What's Up?!: Traveling North III: Skagway

Sa May 14th, 2011

After an amazing ferry trip with the best weather you could ever think of (sunshine, blue sky, calm sea, no wind...) and wonderful scenery (islands, snow-covered mountains, whales, dolphins, beacons, ...) Skagway welcomed my overwhelmed traveler's mind. Snuggled into high mountain ranges it is the end of the Inside Passage and nearly the northernmost point to be reached by ship. That's the reason for the rich history of this gold rush town, since thousands of men came to Skagway (which was founded by a German guy - William Moore "Mooresville") to travel to the gold fields of the Klondike during the goldrush (1898). Dyea, the town at the northernmost cove, was another place for the newly arrived men and women with goldfever. However, Dyea is only a ghost town nowadays, whereas Skagway is home to about 800 people during winter time and to 1800 during summer time. Millions of cruiseship-tourists flood the little town in summertime.
During the gold rush the Inside Passage was the best way to get to the Yukon. Arrived in Skagway/Dyea the people had two choices: going inlands over the Chilkoot Pass or the White Pass (and then building a boat and paddling down the lake system to the Yukon River). The White Pass was longer but not as high ("rich-men route" - horses could be used (well, thousands of horses died...), whereas the Chilkoot was shorter and included more elevation gain.

Anyways, I immediately felt at home in this wonderful little town with its old wooden houses and planked sidewalks. I stayed in a wonderful hostel - well, it was perfect for me. The owner Franz was a great guy, knowing everything and everyone in Alaska (former pilot) and he integrated me into his little family with his foster child, an Eskimo girl. I was invited to dinner every day, he made breakfast for me (and not just breakfast - southern breakfast (eggs and polenta) or chocolate chip waffles... :)). And dinner was just amazing... well, I won't forget to mention in the reports about every day.

Since it was great weather and going to be light for a long time, I headed out to the Dewey Lake Trail System. The lakes were used for gaining electricity starting in the goldrush years, which is quite impressive for these days back then. I walked to the Lower Lake and to the Icy Lake, came back around 9:30pm and still sunlight... :) I slept sooo good this night :).

Su May 15th, 2011

I got up early on this sunny day and went to the Nature Park Visitor Centre for a trail map. I decided to go to the Upper Dewey Lake which is around 1000m above sea level. It was a wonderful hike, pretty steep but efficient. But the higher I got more and more snow was lying in the trail and around. Finally it was more than hip-deep so whenever you broke into the snow you were stuck quite badly. Fortunately it was still cold enough that there was a thin crust on top, so I didn’t crash into the snow all the time. A guy came from the top; he had given up because of the snow. I had a Fruchtschnitte, giving tons of energy and optimism so I kept going. And I made it! And it was absolutely amazing! The lake was still completely icy and snow-covered, but the scenery was so beautiful! I hang out there for quite a while, just lying on the picnic benches… Unfortunately I had to go back soon, to limit the amount of crashing into the melting snow. So happy that I did it!

Upper Dewey Lake

Lower Dewey Lake

In the afternoon I joined a guided tour through Skagway telling about all the little stories and history of the town. The first person to settle here was actually a German guy, predicting that some time there would be a gold rush. And he was right.

After a shower I spoiled myself on this lovely sunny day with an ice-cream. Sitting outside I met some locals and talked to them. Strolling around in the town I met several people from the ferry again. So funny :). It was the last day without cruise ships, so the town was very calm and quiet.

In the supermarket I ran into another guy I met on the ferry to Juneau and he introduced me to the locals pubs. We ended up in the local brewery, the Skagway Brewing Company “BrewCo” and they had the best beer I have ever tasted – the blue top porter! I learned to play shuffleboard (like curling but on a wooden board) and had a great time meeting many locals and people working there in the summer.

Monday May 16th, 2011

Early important phone call to deal with which led to lack of energy after dealing with all the little difficulties and nervousness. However, it was another beautiful day! After a little stroll down to the ocean, watching seals and reading for a little while, I got my running gear and headed off exploring the region a little bit faster. And I found the most beautiful cove I’ve ever seen! I took the road to Dyea and came to this lovely little cove surrounded by mountains. Looking over the glittering ocean you could see snow-covered mountains! Absolutely gorgeous! :) I was stunned. Two girls were collecting seaweed on the shore, we talked for a little while and I made my way back. It was a road I was running on, but it was so nice everyone who drove past said hello :) And in the evenings at the bar or in the coffeeshop, people would remember you as the girl that ran along that road.

Frank was so lovely and asked me whether I like salmon. Yes I do. And then he prepared the most delicious meal ever, fresh salmon and vegetables and potatoes… Wonderful! We even had a nice Chardonnay with it. Wow, I was stunned, being integrated into the family. So lovely. From now on I was treated like a family member.

In the evening a friend took me out to Dyea, another town built and blooming in the gold rush. Nowadays Dyea is a ghost town with no one living there anymore except of bears and campers from time to time. It is the start of the Chilkoot Trail, which used to be as mentioned before one of the two ways to cross the mountains to get to the Yukon. Today it is a popular backpacking trail (33 miles), whereas the White Pass is accessible by car or the famous White Pass and Yukon Route railway, which was built 1898. We had a 4x4 truck so we went on some backcountry roads and we were rewarded with amazing views! I actually learned how to fish – of course I didn’t catch anything during my 10 minutes instruction ;). We saw a little black bear wandering about and some seal and otters playing in the ocean. Wonderful atmosphere out there, so calm, quiet and peaceful.

"Home Stay Hostel"

cruise ships *g*

White Pass & Yukon Route

Tu May 17th, 2011

I used the sunny day to hike to Sturgill’s Landing. It was a lovely hike through a conifer forest and ended at a little bay where you could still see the remains of an old sawmill. After getting back from that hike I had to go back to Matthew’s Creek – the wonderful cove I had discovered the other day. It is just so gorgeous – ocean, cove, surrounded by snow-covered mountains. Good day – hiking & running & bonfire in the evening.

squirrel :)

remains of a sawmill

Wed May 18th, 2011

Lazy day… good breakfast in the morning “southern breakfast” which included eggs “over-easy” and gritz (polenta). Going to the library, writing blog, planning the next day. In the afternoon walking around, going to Yakutania Point and to the Nature Park museum again.

It is amazing to see what the people during the gold rush attempting to get over the pass had to carry. The Canadians made everyone carry supplies for one year to prevent starvation. So each person had to carry one ton supplies with them. Incredible! And they carried everything over the pass, which required many up-and downhill hikes.

Dinner was a wonderful pasta casserole and salad, apple pie and ice-cream for dessert. A friend of Bill came round, telling wonderful stories about moose and bears and so on.

Th May 19th, 2011

Skagway is the beginning of the famous “White Pass and Yukon Route” railway. It was built in the gold rush (1898) and it took only two years to complete the whole route. It’s the only narrow gauge railway in North America still running. Today it’s working for the modern gold rush “cruise-ship tourists” and takes them up to the White Pass Summit. After my delicious breakfast Frank made for me “chocolate chip waffles” I took the train leaving Skagway in the morning up to the flagstop Laughton Glacier where I started a hike (mile 14). It was a nice hike, but it got very snowy. I had snowshoes so it wasn’t a big problem, but it was so slushy and soft that it was even hard with the snowshoes. However, I was lucky with the weather; it stayed clear until I got to the glacier, so I had an amazing view. Going on the glacier wasn’t possible yet due to the snow. So I went back down and spent the three hours waiting for the train with sleeping, reading and wood carving… So beautiful and peaceful out there!

After I was back home we had diner, Frank made a delicious halibut, peas and rests of the pasta from yesterday. It is so nice to feel so welcomed and integrated. Frank knows so much and I love listening to his stories of which he has quite a few. In the evening I went back to the Skagway brewing company, my favourite pub ;). Such good beer and you can play shuffleboard. Whenever you go into the bar you can be certain that you know at least three people which is kind of nice. We had some great games and a lot of fun.

Laughton Glacier

Fr May 19th, 2011

On this cloudy day, my last day in Skagway, I had somewhat of a challenging plan: hiking up to AB Mountain (AB stands for Arctic Brotherhood). The challenge was not the elevation gain (1500m) but the extremely steep and slippery ascend (and descend!) on unmarked trails topped with snow. However I made it quite far up and had a wonderful view over Skagway and Dyea. Eventually I lost the trail, being up in the clouds, rain coming down and steep snowy passages ahead of me. Retrospectively it was a good decision although it’s still very unsatisfying and the possibility of the peak kept running through my mind.

After a shower I wandered through Skagway and looked at all the Cruise-ship passengers filling the streets. The Disney-Cruise was in, so it wasn’t the usual people “newly weds and nearly deads” (as the locals say), but quite a few younger people and families. However, there was still a connection between them: I can’t remember seeing so many severely obese people at the same place… So sad.